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3 Sheets-Sheetl.

. C. W. SMITH. CLEAKSING CLOTH, YARNS AND WASTE. No. 192,844, PatentedJuly 10, 1827.

NLPET-ERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER WASHINGTONv D C 3Sheets-Sheet 2. C. W.SMITH.

CLEANSING CLOTH, YARNS AND WASTE. No. 192,844. I Patented July 10,1877..

N.PETERS. FHDTO-LITNOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON, D, C,

UNITED STAT S PATENT" QFFICE. I

oHRIsroPHnR WEBB SMITH, or BAn'Nwoon, NEAR eLo'UdEsrER;

ENGLhND.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No-J 192,844, dated July10, 1877; applicatien filed i June 16, 1877.

To all whom it mag concern: p

Be it known that I, Onn srornnn W B SMITH, of Barnwood, nearthe city ofGloucester, England, chemist, have invented new and useful Improvementsin and Apparatus for Securing for Cleansing Woolen Uloth, Yarns, andWast'eaand in recovering valuable products from the materials which havebeen used usedinconducting the said scour ing or cleansing, which,improvements are fully set forth j ill the following specification,referenceabeing had. to the accompanying drawings. N, d d

My ntenti n has for t o j c t pe s d the tedious and uncertain processofscour ing or cleansing woolen cloth ordinarily emp eye y a d ub u gtherefo a P s which is shorter and more efficient, andwhich permitsofthe recovery of a considerable quantity-of theindigo or other dye andoil which are removed fromthe cloth during the securing process. Myinvention has thefurtheradvantage that the principal material employedcanbe purified after use, so as to permit of its being used over againinstead of being converted into a waste or refuse material, as is thecase with respect to'the material comnionly-used in conducting thescourin g or'cleansing'process. e a

Mysaidinvention is practiced by the use of the apparatus hereinafterdescribed.

n scouring or cleansingwoolen cloth of coarse or low quality, accordingto my invention, I proceed as follows The cloth to be oper ated-i uponis spread out on the floor of the room in which the process. isconducted, and a layer of matting or other like coarse and cheapmaterial is placed upon the cloth. The. cloth and mattingare rolled intoa loose coil, whichis placed in an upright cylindrical? vesselof a, sizeand figure proper to'reoeive it. The said vessel hasa removable headsimilarjto the head of a still, and after the introduction of: the clothinto thevessel the said head is fixed on the vessel. Through ai funnelinth'e. said head I fill the said vessel with amylic alcoh'ol or commonpetroleum-spirit, such as is commonly burned in lamps The spirit is alalowed 130 remain undisturbed in the'fvessel from twenty minutes to halfan hour, during .the spirit which is retained centrifugal force.

which time it dissolves all the oil contained" in the cloth the mattingrolled with the cloth favoring the passage of the spirit to every" partof the cloth. A considerable quantity of indigo is also remoyed from thecloth. After the expiration of. the time indicated the spirit is drawnoff from the vessel containing-the cloth by means of a tap at itsbottom,' and is conducted into a second vessel ata somewhat lower levelthan the first. That portion 'of in thee-pores of the cloth is' removedby volatilization, or

when I mp ow la li a tion the still-head of the vessel containingthecloth isconnected with a condenser or worm and steam is passed into thesaidvesselin small jets from a pipe until the spirit is driven ofi. Thespirit contained in the cloth is volatilized and condensed in the wormor uates; h cl h er, and eollectedin a third vessel. isnow removed fromthevessel, when it will befound-to be dry and elean,,and readyin mostcases for fulling-. When, however, it" is thought desirable the cloth'mI through the vv asher machine with tullersl earth, in the ordinary way.The spirit drawn off and that obtained by distillation may be' mixedtogetherand used again. efter, how ever, the spirit has beenused two orthree times itis desirable to purify it by separatin the suspendedindigo and the oil whichit has dissolved. I a v n In order to separatetheindigo or other;

dyes or impurities, the spirit, when draw' n e11: from the first vesselinto the second, is allowed to rest there for several hours, whenthe ofthe indigo or other solid subsides, and by decantation and filtrationthe spirit and indigo or solid may be obtained separately. saidindigoand spirit are, however, impure.

.To purify the spirit-that is, to. eparates 7 ro e fi ho whi h has d s'dfil b ec t to st a wh eb he i is obtained in a state ofsuffic ientpurity for use again in the cleansing process, and the fixed oil remainsin the stilL- The fixedoil ispuri'; fied by beingplaeed in an open vattogether with one-thirdits volume of water; fiteam'is passed into thesaid vat, and the: whole is boiled for about anhour. Atterallowing the vhe p ss 7 contents of the vat to rest for a time, the oil can be runofi", and can be used again in treating the wool. The impure indigo maybe treated by filtration and distillation to remove all the spiritadhering to it. The indigo thus obtained is sufficiently pure to be usedindyeing. When, however, it is required still further to purify theindigo, the impure indigo may be washed once or twice with petroleumspirit, and boiled in an open vat, first with lime and then withhydrochloric acid, or deoxidized by any of the well-known agents, suchas orpiment, chloride of tin, protoxide of zinc, sulphate of iron in thepresence of lime and alkalies. After the deoxidation of the indigo theliquid is allowed to stand at rest to permit the solid impurities toprecipitate. The supernatant liquor is run off into another vessel andoxidized by-exposure to the action of the air, or bythe addition ofsulphate of copper, which hastens the oxidation.

Although my invention is especially applicable to the securing orcleansing of woolen cloth, yet it is also applicable to the scouring orcleansing of woolen and other yarns and wastes.

Although amylic alcohol is an excellent solvent of fixed oils, I onlyuse it in treating goods where its objectionable odor is of noconsequence.

For treating woolen cloths, yarns, wools, and oily cotton-waste, Iprefer to use petroleum-spirit instead of amylic alcohol.

Instead of employing the apparatus described for cleansing cloths,yarns, and wastes according to my invention, the said cloths, yarns, andwastes may be treated in a centrifugal machine, the bottom of the outershell or casing of the said machine being fitted with a tap for the exitof the spirit. The centrifugal machine should be fixed at such a levelthat the spirit can be run into it from a tank above.

The centrifugal machine having been filled three-fourths full of spirit,the goods are pressed under the liquid by sticks, and allowed to remainsoaking for half an hour for the perfect solution of the fixed oils.Alarge proportion of the spirit can be run off while the machine isstationary, most of that which remains in the goods being collected bycentrifugal force. This mcthodof treatment I prefer.

For most goods the treatment described will be sufficient, and thespirit sufficiently recovered. When, however, the goods are of such anature that the spirit is removed with difficulty, a jet of water may bethrown in at the center of the centrifugal machine while in motion,which will secure the collection of all that remains. When water'isemployed for this purpose it should afterward be conducted into anothervessel forthe easy separation of the water and oils. Oily goods whichhave been soaked in spirit and deprived of the spirit by centrifugalforce, as described, can be further completely cleansed by injectingspirit into the middle of the centrifugal machine during its action.

I also, in some instances, treat the goods in an upright cylindricalvessel of the kind hereinafter described. The cloth being packed in theupright cylindrical vessel, with coarse canvas intervening, as beforeexplained,'spirit is run in at the bottom, which ascends through thecloth. When the vessel has been filled with the spirit, it should remainfrom twenty minutes to half an hour, to act upon the cloth.

Water is then made slowly to flow into the vessel by the same entranceat bottom by which the spirit was introduced, which water, forcing itsway upward, drives the spirit before it, the said spirit flowing out ata spout or pipe provided for the purpose. The water by which the spiritis displaced must be admitted slowly into the vessel.

In treating oily cotton-waste it should, when very foul, pass twicethrough the process described. The said cotton-waste, after it has beentreated, will only require shaking on wire hurdles, or dusted bymachinery, to free it from any dust or insoluble impurities not removedby the spirit. When very much stained by iron the cotton-waste can betreated by very dilute hydrochloric acid, andafterward washed in acentrifugal machine; but this treatment is rarely necessary.

Figures 1 and 1A of the accompanying draw ing, represent, in verticalsection, the apparatus which I employ for the scouring or cleansingof'woolen cloth according to my invention.

a, Fig. 1, is an upright cylindrical vessel, of a size and form properto receive the loose coil of cloth and matting. The loose coil issupported on the perforated bottom 12. p 0 is a steam-jacket, betweenwhich and the cylindrical vessel a steam is introduced for the purposeof. heating the contents of the vessel a. e is a removable still-head,capable of being readily fixed on and removed from thevesso] a.Screw-clamps, of the kind represented at f, may be used for connectingand disconnecting the still-head e. The said still-head e isincommunication with a worm, g, Fig. 1A, immersed in a vessel, h,containing cold water, the said worm and vessel constituting acondensing apparatus of the ordinary kind. After the cloth has beenintroduced into the vessel or, and the said vessel filled with amylicalcohol or petroleum-spirit, the head a is fixed on the vessel, andafter the lapse of the time hereinbefore indicated the spiritis drawnoff by the pipe 5. The portion of the spirit retained by the cloth isvolatilized by introducing steam by the pipe q, in connection withasteam-boiler, between the jacket 0 and vessel a. The vapor of thespirit, passing through the still-head 0 into the worm g, is therecondensed, and is drawn oif at the cock j. By means of the small pipe assteam in small jets may be passed into the vessel 0!. and the spiritthereby driven off.

Fig. II represents, in vertical section, the upright cylindrical vesselhereinbefore referred to, in which, in some cases, I treat the woolencloth or other goods to be cleansed.

This vessel is furnished with a tap, k, at

bottom-for emptying it, and with a vertical pipe, 1, surmounted with afunnel, m, and opening into the bottom of the vessel at it. Through thisfunnel and pipe the sp1rit, to act upon the woolen cloth or goods, isfirst introduced, and, after a sufficient lapse of time, is drawn ofl atthe tap it. The spirit remaining in the pores of the cloth or othergoods is displaced by a stream of water heated to about 80 Fahrenheit,which is slowly introducedthrough the funnelm and pipe I. This warmwater, slowly ascending in the vessel, displaces the spirit contained inthe goods under treatment,

which spirit, collecting at the top of the vessel, passes ofi' by thepipe 1).

Having now described the nature of invention, and the manner in whichthe same is'to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do notlimit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, asthe same may be varied without departing from the nature of myinvention; but

I claim as my invention 1. The process of cleaning and scouring woolencloths, yarns, and Wastes when rolled into mats, into coils, and placedin cylindrical receivers with amylic alcohol or petroleumspirit,substantially as hereinbefore described.

2. The methods of securing or cleansing woolen cloth, yarn s, andwastes, and recovering valuable products from the materials which havebeen used in conducting the said scouring or cleansing, substantially bythe means and in the manner herein shownand set forth.

CHRISTOPHER WEBB SMITH. [L 5.] Witnesses:

GEORGE SHAW, RICHARD SKERRETT, Both of 37 Temple Street, Birmingham.

